2021 chip shortage could affect your future purchases
- There is a huge shortage of chips all over the world. This makes business very difficult, especially for automakers.
- The shortage has to do with a variety of factors, not the least of which is the ongoing pandemic.
- Perhaps this shortage is affecting technical products that you plan to buy this year.
If you’ve budgeted some cash on a big tech buy this year, we’ve got some news that might be important. According to an article The BBCWe are in the midst of a major global chip shortage.
This deficiency could affect all sorts of markets. Indeed, automakers face most of the problems in response to the shortage. The average car often has more than 100 microprocessors that run everything from the stereo to the lights. Automakers are struggling to get these chips, which is delaying their rollout.
For general technique, we cover here most often Android Authority – Smartphones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches, etc. – Things are less bad. However, this doesn’t mean that the deficiency won’t cause problems later in the year.
2021 Chip Shortage: What Happens and Why?
According to The BBCThis deficiency is essentially a perfect storm of various problems. Obviously, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic plays a big role. However, there are two other problems that, when combined, are causing the industry to collapse.
The first problem is the sharp increase in new products in high demand from 2020 that depend on 7nm silicon. One of the reasons the Xbox Series X / S, PlayStation 5, new Nvidia GPUs, etc. are so hard to come by is that there just aren’t enough chips to get them off the grid.
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The second problem affects the auto industry directly. In 2020, automobile sales plummeted and in response, automakers reduced their silicon orders. However, demand for cars suddenly skyrocketed towards the end of the year, leading to the same automakers placing rush orders for new chips.
When you add these two problems to the COVID-19 pandemic, you get the big chip shortage of 2021.
Does this mean phones will be difficult to get hold of?
From now on no. The two big players in the smartphone world – Samsung and Apple – are currently focusing on 5 nm chips. These chips don’t seem to crack as much as other builds. Additionally, Samsung is the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, which is why it will obviously prioritize its own products.
However, smaller players in the market could face issues related to chip shortage. This can result in fewer phones than expected on initial startup. This could also translate into higher prices as smartphone OEMs want to increase sales to counter the expected decrease in unit shift. However, this is speculation. There’s no indication that getting the latest smartphone will be as difficult as getting a PlayStation 5, for example.
The most important thing to keep in mind for now is that this chip shortage is occurring and could affect buyers over the months. If you are planning on making a big tech buy this year, keep an eye on this issue while it persists.
